


First Taste of Love

by SummerRaine14



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bonfires, Carnival, F/M, Fluff, I probably missed some tags, Mentions of Sex, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Spoiled Popular Betty Cooper, Summer Love, betty's grandparents steer this bughead ship, happy endings, inspired by different summer romance movies and songs, slight angst, teenage romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:13:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24391111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRaine14/pseuds/SummerRaine14
Summary: Betty Cooper had it all in Phoenix, but after her parents send her to spend the summer in Riverdale with her grandparents and she meets Jughead Jones, she learns that maybe her life hadn't been as perfect as she thought.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 32
Kudos: 99
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	First Taste of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! The Summer months are officially among us and I couldn't think of anything better to do than to write a Bughead summer romance AU. 
> 
> I'd like to give @Cacti-Evie a shoutout for being an amazing soundboard and beta for the million times I changed the title and screamed because I had no idea how this would end. I appreciate you endlessly <3

_ "This was the last straw Elizabeth, your father, and I have tried everything to get through to you, but nothing has worked. You're spending the summer with your grandparents in Riverdale." _

_ Betty scoffed at her mother. "Riverdale? There is nothing to do there, mom!" _

_ "Maybe that's what you need. It'll be good for you to have some downtime, spend time with your grandparents and remember, your old friend Kevin? I'm sure he'd love to reconnect."  _

_ "Kevin Keller? Yeah, can't think of anything I'd love more than to spend the summer with the Sheriff's kid."  _

_ "That's enough of your attitude, Elizabeth. You are going to Riverdale for two months, and that's the end of this discussion."  _

_ "You are ruining my life!"  _

Betty sat quietly in the passenger seat of her mother's car as they drove into Riverdale. All she'd seen for miles was trees and more trees, and it made her roll her eyes. Was she going to spend her summer in this town? Betty hadn't been to Riverdale in over ten years. Her mom and father had met in high school when living there but chose to move to Phoenix when Hal received a job offer. 

Riverdale was the town they talked about, the memories they had, and how everyone knew everyone. For a long time, Betty adored the small New York town, but then she grew up. The older she got, the more she loved being in the big city of Phoenix. 

All of her friends came from money, with families who had lived in big houses and drove expensive cars. At some point, she started to fit in with the 'rich' crowd, and she never wanted to go back. High school was hard, but it felt more manageable when she had her clique backing her up. 

Her sister Polly was a cheerleader, and her brother Charles had been on the football team. It only made sense for Betty to follow in their footsteps. She joined the cheerleading squad as soon as she had the chance. Maybe she got the spot because of who her siblings were, but Betty didn't care. 

She was given everything she wanted because people adored her brother and sister. Teachers expected great things from her, which they got. Boys wanted to be with her and girls wanted to be her, Betty was living the teen fantasy, and everything was perfect. 

One could argue that she spent too many nights out partying with friends. That buying a fake ID and sneaking into clubs and events with guys from sororities was going to turn around and bite her in the ass one day. She didn't care. She had been given the taste of the privileged life and she was never going back. 

Now she was stuck in this boring town, where a rich kid got murdered the year before, and everyone hated each other. Her entire summer was going to be spent locked inside her mother's childhood bedroom because what else was there to do? The 'cool' kids were all wannabes. 

During their drive, Alice had suggested that Betty get in touch with Kevin Keller again, which only annoyed her more. Kevin had been Betty's closest friend when her family came for visits during her childhood. But he was the Sheriff's son, and she made it a habit of hanging around people who liked to have fun, not abide by the rules because they were scared of their dad. 

Betty turned down every idea her mother had, and it got to the point where she put in her headphones and blasted her music, putting her feet up on the dash and ignoring whatever Alice was trying to say. 

When they finally arrived at her grandparent's house, she didn't bother saying goodbye to her mother as she carried her bags upstairs and locked the door. 

She sat down on the bed and pulled her phone out of her pocket, looking for a wireless network. Betty groaned and went downstairs to find her mother still there, sitting with her grandmother having a cup of tea. 

"There's no internet here?" 

"We had it, but when your mother told us that your friends were bad influences, we thought it might be best to turn it off for the summer."

"This isn't fair! You're ruining my life. I want to talk to my friends!" 

Her grandfather walked in and interjected, "Friends who nearly get you arrested are not real friends, Dear. So long as you're under our roof, you will abide by our rules." 

"I don't even want to be under your roof. Ugh! This is so stupid." 

The lack of response irritated Betty even more. She ran back upstairs, slamming the door behind her and locking it again. 

She sent a text to her group chat with her best friends, Veronica and Katy, about how  _ ridiculous  _ it was that there was no wifi at the house. 

**Betty:** It feels like I'm living in the dark ages. I hate it here already.

**Veronica:** That sucks, B! I still can't believe your parents would send you there for the entire summer.

**Katy:** The Coopers are total pushovers, they'll be picking you up in two weeks because they feel bad.

**Veronica:** Two weeks too long, Kiki! We need to get her out of there asap. 

**Betty:** There's no way I'm getting out of here anytime soon. My grandpa has already given me the "this is my house" speech. I'm going to be bored for two months.

She sat at the end of the bed and waited for a reply, but none came. It annoyed her, but she couldn't blame them. Veronica and Katy were probably sitting poolside at some party with drinks in their hands. They didn't need to be on their phones, worrying about the horrible time she was having. This was her problem to deal with, and it looked like she was going to go through it alone.

When her grandma called her down for dinner, she pretended she had fallen asleep. She ignored them wanting to spend time together, instead deciding to unpack her bags. She took her dresses and hung them in the closet, placing her shorts and skirts in the bottom drawers of her mother's old dresser. She was putting her shirts away when she found a photo of her mother when she was Betty's age. 

Alice's hair was curly, much longer than it was now. She wore dark red lipstick that matched the flannel wrapped around her waist, the outfit completed with ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. What caught Betty's eye was the neon green sign in the background. 

_ Whyte Wyrm  _

She recognized the symbol on the back of a jacket from someone standing behind her mother, the Southside Serpents. She'd heard whispers about them, a gang in the Southside of Riverdale. A smile appeared on her lips as she thought to herself. Maybe this summer wasn't going to be so dull after all. 

\--

Once she knew her grandparents were asleep, Betty snuck out the back door of the home and made her way to where she remembered the split in the town. There was always a divide between the North and the South, and it surprised her to know that her so-called perfect mother was once a kid who dipped her feet in the dangerous side of life. 

The walk was longer than she'd been expecting.It annoyed her that her feet began to hurt, her flats not made for walking for God knows how long. Finally, she came across a group of kids standing beside their motorcycles and smoking. Most of them were men, but there were two girls dressed similarly to how her mother had been in the photo. She knew when she saw the same snake on their jackets that she was close and less than a block away, there was the neon sign. 

Everyone around her was wearing black, leather, and flannels, a contrast to the pink and blue of Betty's top with her jean skirt. A few people turned to look at her as she made her way in, but her attention was focused on the few standing at the pool table who hadn't been phased by her entrance. 

Betty had a problem, she always wanted what she couldn't have, and everything about the three men playing pool told her she shouldn't go over there, but it wasn't going to stop her. 

She flattened her skirt and walked over with a flirtatious smile. Two of the men noticed her and looked up from the game in front of them. Unfortunately for them, her sights were on the one with the grey beanie who hadn't bothered to give her any attention. 

"Hi, boys." Her voice was soft as she leaned against the pool table. 

One of the boys was wearing a leather vest and a cocky smirk, "Who might you be?" 

"Elizabeth, but you can call me Betty." 

"We're not going to call you anything." The one who had been playing pool looked up after clearing the table. "Don't know if you got lost, but this is the Southside and a bar. You're a minor on the wrong side of the tracks." 

Scoffing, Betty pulled her ID out of her purse. "Not a minor." 

The man chuckled, "That's a fake. And horribly done, by the way." 

"You always this much of a buzz kill?" 

"No, I'm not interested in making me or any of my guys your boy toy to piss off Mommy and Daddy. Now, excuse yourself back to the other side of town."

"Excuse me? What the hell does that even mean?" 

"It means you're a Northsider rebelling against your parents for reasons I don't care to know, and none of us are going to help you do so." 

"You got a big mouth for a guy who has no idea what he's talking about." She took a step closer to him, her eyes burning with anger. 

"And you have no concept of personal space. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do with my time. I'm sure you can find your own way home." 

Annoyed with the hostile interaction, Betty scoffed once again and headed out the bar. She was walking down the sidewalk when she got stopped by a girl with striking pink hair and an outfit that matched just about everyone else’s in the area. 

"You lost blondie?" 

"No, I'm not. God, does everyone here think that because I'm not wearing a cheap flannel that I don't belong?" 

The girl smiled and shook her head, "Maybe it has something to do with you calling our clothing cheap, and the fact that we've never seen you around here." 

"I'm new to town." 

"You're new to Riverdale, and you made your first stop the Wyrm? Come up with a better lie. You probably got sent over by the Queen Bitch at Riverdale High to spy on all of us." 

"Toni." 

Betty turned around at the sound of a male's voice when she was met with the same guy in the grey beanie that had given her a less than enthusiastic Riverdale welcome inside. 

"Leave the Northsider alone. She's gotta get home." 

"Will everyone stop calling me a Northsider? God, it's annoying." 

"Where do you live?" 

"I'm staying with family on Elm Street." 

The girl, Toni, and the man shared a look, both smirking and nodding their heads. 

"That's the Northside, blondie." 

"Whatever. I'm leaving, so you guys don't need to worry about me killing your vibe or whatever." 

Betty was walking off when she heard the man's voice again, "Where's your car?" 

"I don't have one." Her back was turned to him as she continued on her way. 

"Are you insane? Walking around these streets alone at night?" 

"I can take care of myself." 

"No. You can't. Fuck, I'll give you a ride home, and then I don't want to see you around my bar again. Got it?" 

Betty stopped and looked at him, "Thought you wanted nothing to do with me?"

"Don't. But also don't wanna wake up with news in the paper tomorrow that some Northsider got killed walking home, we got enough prejudice against this side of town as it is." 

"Well, if you're not as dangerous as people make you seem, then why are you so worried?"

"You gonna take the offer up or not?" 

"Are you gonna stop being an asshole or not?" 

"Right. Get on the bike." 

"I'm not getting on a motorcycle with a complete stranger, and I don't even know your name."

"It's Jughead. Now, the bike." 

Betty sighed and walked back over to him, taking the black helmet he held out to her and followed him to the motorcycle parked near the back of the lot. She waited for Jughead to get on his bike and then followed suit, hesitantly wrapping her arms around him as he drove off. 

Jughead pulled over at the beginning of Elm Street and parked. Betty offered him a ‘thank you’ before getting off. When she got no reply in return, she simply walked down the sidewalk to her grandparent's home. She quietly made her way into the house, locking the front door behind her and tiptoeing upstairs. She shut the bedroom door and took a sigh of relief, thankfully not being caught.he was not in the mood to deal with yet another person annoying her tonight. 

\--

Betty had been in Riverdale for a week now, and besides her first night in the town, nothing even slightly adventurous had happened. She was forced to accompany her grandparents to church for two hours on Sunday, and then a community barbecue later in the afternoon. Most of the people she met there had talked about remembering her as a baby, "Oh! You've gotten so big since the last time I saw you."  _ Yeah, no shit, it's called growing up.  _

She was still living with no wifi and felt herself going stir crazy. The most social media time she'd had was at the local library where her Instagram crashed every five minutes from the decade-old router they used for their computers and devices. 

She had run into some of the other teenagers when she picked up dinner from the local diner, Pop's, and even struck up a conversation with the cheerleaders while she was waiting. Other than that, Betty had spent her days inside, staring at a phone with barely any notifications while her friends back home enjoyed the things she was missing out on. 

The days felt long and repetitive, and Betty could only handle so many more of her grandma wanting to work on her garden before she lost it. Maybe it made her selfish, to not feel grateful for these moments with family members she barely ever got to see. But the thing with Betty was that family had never really been all that important to her. 

In Phoenix, she got to see her Dad maybe for five minutes a day twice a week. He was gone before she was up in the morning and didn't return until long after she got home. Sure, she could have her endless party nights to blame for never seeing her Mom, but how was she supposed to care about quality family time now when it had never been shown to her?

It was why her friendships and the parties became so important to her. They were the only consistent things in her life. So, when Betty was at Pop's diner once again and overheard a conversation of a party being thrown by some Riverdale High students, she knew she was going. 

Before arriving home with dinner, Betty stopped at the library to use their internet and check social media accounts of kids she knew would have posted about the party. There was the Queen Bee of Riverdale High, Cheryl Blossom, and it hadn't taken long for Betty to figure out what account was hers. One quick search and viewing an Instagram story later, she found out that the party was going to be held at Thornhill mansion. 

Lying to her grandparents was easy enough when she told them she ran into some people at Pop's who invited her to hang out. Betty made up some names and then wandered to her room to get dressed. She wore a simple green dress with a blue floral pattern, one that her grandmother had bought her and sent in the mail for her birthday last year. They let her use their car so long as she was home before eleven, and Betty decided it was a fair enough ask. 

The fun began when Betty got to see some of the guys who were football players. The way she was able to slip into conversation with them felt like she was back home. They offered her drinks and weren't afraid of a little flirting while dancing to the music playing through the speakers. She kissed a few boys whose names she didn't know, but she didn't care. 

There were girls who thought she was new to Riverdale, giving Betty some advice she didn't need when she knew she wouldn't see most of these people ever again after the summer. She was dancing with the quarterback when her eyes met with Jughead Jones. 

Yeah, after he had told her his name last week, she decided to do some sleuthing. If this summer was going to be boring, she was going to find something interesting to spend her time with. He was more than a guy on the wrong side of the tracks. He had a father convicted for the murder of a teen who lived in this very house. It was bold of him to show his face here, but Betty liked bold. 

Betty fixed her ponytail and walked over to Jughead, who was with the same people she'd seen him with at the bar a week prior. They were like his little pose, and it made her laugh. "Are you lost?"

Jughead smirked, "We got an invite. Now, if you'll excuse me." 

"What if I want to spend time with you?" 

"Hah. How much have you had to drink?" 

"Oh, only a little bit." She wore a flirtatious smile once again and dragged her finger down Jughead's chest. "Come dance with me." 

Jughead shook his head and turned to his friends, "Pea, you keep an eye on these two. I'm going to spend some time with her." 

"Got it, boss." 

Jughead's friends walked away, and Betty looked at him with an eyebrow raise. "Boss? What are you like a gang leader or something?" 

"Yes." Jughead began walking in front of Betty over to the back corner of the room and then stopped, leaning against the wall. "Why are you so interested in me, Betty?" 

"What was it that you said the day we met? I'm trying to make Mommy and Daddy mad." 

"Mhm, except you told us you were staying with family in Riverdale. Not that you lived here, so what's your deal?" 

"Why do you suddenly care?" 

"Because the only kind of person who keeps pushing for something they can't have is usually doing it for other reasons."

"Maybe I just like what's no good for me." 

"And that would be me?" 

"Yep. Do you want a drink? I'm going to get another." 

She didn't wait for him to answer before she walked off to the kitchen and grabbed herself one of the full red cups with God knows what in it and Jughead, a beer. When she got back to the room, he was still waiting in the corner where they were talking, which surprised her. She was buzzed but alert enough to know that Jughead didn't seem like he  _ wanted  _ to be talking to her. It felt like he thought he had to be. 

They talked a little more, all about stupid little things. Jughead tried to ask her about why she was in Riverdale, but she didn't want to tell him. She questioned him about being a gang leader when he couldn't have been more than twenty years old. He told her it fell into his lap when he was seventeen and that he's nineteen now. 

Their conversation came easy enough, surprising to Betty, given how short he had been with her the night they first met. It was getting late, and many of the party-goers had started to leave. Betty had drunk way too much to drive back to her grandparents, and she knew they were going to kill her if she didn't bring their car home. 

At some point, Jughead had gone to talk to his friends that he'd come with. Betty could have sworn she saw Toni kissing Cheryl Blossom, though she blamed that on the alcohol. After that, she didn't remember much besides Jughead asking her for her keys and saying something about driving her home. 

It was the sound of her grandmother's yelling that must have woken her when she realized she was back at their house. Jughead's arm around her waist as he walked her up the sidewalk to the front door. 

"Ma'am, I was at a party with your granddaughter. She had too much to drive, and I believe these keys belong to you." 

"A party? Elizabeth, this is ridiculous. Get in the house. We'll talk about this in the morning." 

Betty felt Jughead's hand leave her waist. She opened her eyes again and saw her grandmother. She heard her grandfather's voice and could tell he was speaking with Jughead, but the further they got from the door, the less she could make out from what they were saying. 

Her grandmother brought her to her bedroom and laid her down. She was mumbling something, but the next thing she knew, her door was closed. 

Downstairs, Betty's grandparents were standing at the door, speaking with Jughead. 

"Not many people would do what you did, son, how can we repay you?" 

"It wasn't a problem, sir." 

"Nonsense." Betty's grandmother interrupted. "You'll join us for dinner this Sunday, at five o'clock. It's the least we can do." 

"Ma'am, that's not necessary." 

"Hush. My husband will drive you to pick up your car tonight, and I'll see you Sunday evening." 

\--

Sunday had come around, and Betty was getting anxious. They'd gotten home from the church an hour ago, and she was helping her grandma in the kitchen prepping dinner. The last two days had been awkward in the Smith household. 

Between her grandmother being angry that she'd lied about her whereabouts on Friday and coming home drunk, they were less than pleased with her. Then there was her grandfather; Joseph Smith was just like most of the people who had grown up on the Northside of Riverdale. Despite Jughead’s kind actions, he was less than welcoming of a Southsider in his home. 

When Betty learned that her grandma had invited Jughead over for dinner, it wasn't all that surprising that they'd argued about it. Louise was more open-minded and accepting. In ways that she was okay with Jughead coming over for dinner, her husband was not. 

Betty didn't know how she felt. Jughead was kind, probably the most considerate person she'd met in Riverdale, which said a lot considering their first meeting. He was easy on the eyes, and she enjoyed talking to him, but she didn't want to spend time with the guy she was attracted to at dinner with her grandparents.

There were still a few hours before Jughead arrived, and Betty's grandfather hadn't been interacting much with them since they got home. While she wasn't very good at expressing her feelings, Betty did feel bad for what happened on Friday. She wasn't sorry about the lying, so much as the coming home drunk and having to be cared for like a child. 

Some time went by, and as Betty finished setting the table, she heard a knock on the door. Suddenly shy, she tried to contain herself as she walked to the front of the house and let Jughead inside. 

He handed her a small bouquet of sunflowers, "I got these for your grandmother." 

"Oh, um, that's nice of you. I'll get a vase, and you can hang up your jacket. They're just in the kitchen." 

Betty put the flowers in a vase and set them on the windowsill. She stood in the background, her grandparents welcoming Jughead as he sat at their table. It surprised her how well he got on with her grandmother almost immediately. She waited until they were all seated, brought the food to the table, and then took her own seat. 

Her grandfather had asked how he knew Betty and Jughead thankfully came up with a story on the spot, not revealing the night she'd snuck out and wandered in the Whyte Wyrm. The conversation flowed more naturally than any of them had been expecting, and it weirdly made Betty happy. 

She found herself getting distracted by Jughead's smile and the way he held a conversation. He spoke with her grandfather about motorcycles while he discussed classic literature with her grandmother. He carried himself in a way that she respected but made her lose her trains of thought. Jughead was attractive, funny, kind, and smart, and Betty didn't quite get what he did to her. 

The sun went down, and they were all still sitting together and talking at the table. Since coming to Riverdale, Betty hadn't felt this at ease. She found herself feeling sad when the night came to an end, her grandparents saying they had to get some sleep. Jughead offered to help Betty with the dishes while they went to bed, which made her grandmother only adore him more. 

Things felt heavier when her grandparents went upstairs, with Betty trying to keep her distance because she didn't know if she'd be able to stop herself from kissing him the way she'd wanted to since first meeting him in the bar. The dishes were done quickly, and Betty knew he was going to be leaving. She walked him to the door and properly thanked him for bringing her home safely the other night. 

Jughead pulled his jacket on and turned to face her, "So you're only in Riverdale for the summer?" 

"Uh, yeah. My own personal prison."

"It's not all that bad. Maybe you'll come to like it." 

"I have a feeling I'm not going to be allowed to leave this house until August. Not much to enjoy if I can't see it." 

"What if I asked them to let me take you out." 

"Why would you do that?" 

Betty was caught off guard when Jughead leaned down, his hands coming to hold her face delicately. Their lips met in a soft kiss, but she couldn't stop herself from deepening it. She pulled away eventually and gasped for air, "Y-you kissed me." 

Jughead chuckled and nodded, "I did. Look, I admit that you're fun to be around. I wouldn't mind spending some time together while you're here." 

She blushed, a half-cocky smirk lighting up her face, "Well, there's nothing wrong with indulging in a little fun." 

\--

The weeks following their kiss had been incredible. As the days passed, Betty began to feel herself settling into her life in Riverdale. She was no longer glued to her phone, hoping for her mom to come and save her from what she had previously called hell. She spent nights sitting around campfires with Jughead and his friends, days in the water at the swimming hole and mornings in the back booth at Pop's, or going for sunrise walks. 

Jughead's friends took some warming up to, but they were at a place now where Betty and Toni were spending time together without the guys. They shared their stories of friendships and relationships, finding themselves to have more in common than they ever would have expected. 

It became a weekly event that Jughead would join Betty and her grandparents for dinner, each week succeeding even better than before. Her grandfather had come around and was looking forward to the evenings' Jughead would be coming over. 

In ways Betty never had before, she felt comfortable around Jughead. She wasn't afraid to test the waters and be honest about what she wanted. The two of them had learned about each other's bodies after sneaking away from campfires and stumbling into Jughead's bedroom. They'd learned about each other's dreams over morning coffee, and experienced all the highs of summer love. 

Love felt like a weird word to use for Betty. She had never been in love, and she had no idea if that was it. After all, they'd promised each other all this would be was fun. But, it was becoming increasingly hard for Betty to ignore the butterflies in her stomach when Jughead was around. She couldn't deny that he made her smile in ways she only dreamed of after watching a cheesy rom-com. Everything Betty never knew she wanted, she had found in her time with Jughead. 

As the nights got colder, she found herself holding his hand a little tighter, and not wanting to let go. Not only had he made her come to appreciate the small town but also having her grandparents around to look after her. 

Jughead didn't have much family, save for his father, who he visited in jail once a month. Betty learned that he hadn't seen his mom since he was thirteen and that the friendship Jughead had with the other Serpents was the closest thing he had to family.

Knowing Jughead had allowed Betty to look at her life and stop taking so many things for granted. He had shown her the way everything mattered, and that the silly things like social media and being at the top of the teenage food chain, didn't define what kind of person you were. 

Jughead had a way about him, his words drew Betty in, and she really  _ listened.  _ He was speaking from experience, and it made her admire him. All of the boys she'd known before him only cared about getting inside her skirt. But Jughead, despite their promise of only having fun, had wanted Betty to know herself. 

It took some time, but Betty had told Jughead about how she and some friends in Phoenix thought committing a B&E on their high school was a fun way to spend their Friday night. She said that the only reason she wasn't in more trouble was that her best friend's dad was a hotshot lawyer. Not that Jughead thought Betty was much of a best friend, because despite being part of a gang, he and his closest allies had always kept each other from crossing lines. In the same way that Jughead brought out the best in Betty, she learned that he and his friends did that for each other. 

Experiencing this relationship with Jughead in Riverdale made Betty wonder if she even missed Phoenix anymore. In the beginning, she had missed the wild parties and getting into trouble with her friends. But Betty soon realized that she didn't miss herself. She didn't miss the girl who people looked at with expectations. No one here wanted anything from her, and it allowed her to get in touch with the girl she was before she felt the need to masquerade herself as a worthy high school cheerleader that could do whatever she wanted. 

On days when Jughead was busy, Betty would take trips down to the library, and instead of trying to get on her Instagram, she was looking through old papers. As a child, Betty loved books like Nancy Drew. Those kinds of stories made her curious, and she would pester her parents about things happening in their city. Betty never liked not having the answers, but because of her need to fit in and be the girl she thought others wanted, she learned to push her curiosity aside. 

During the nights they spent tangled up in Jughead's sheets, Betty would rest her head on his chest and ask him questions about Riverdale. She wondered what had happened in the last year following the murder of the wealthiest family's son, how he was handling his father being in prison. Betty discovered that Jughead was as much a curious person as she was. 

She knew it sounded crazy, but Jughead was her better half. Betty didn't care how ridiculous it made her seem when they'd only known each other for two months, he made his way into her heart, and she knew he'd be there for a very long time. Betty wasn't oblivious, and she knew that the summer was coming to an end, and when that happened, so would her time with Jughead. Her life was back in Phoenix with her parents and the school she'd gone to for the last three years. It didn't feel right to her to leave this all behind when being in Riverdale was the most at home she'd ever felt before. 

For her last weekend in Riverdale, Jughead promised to take her to the carnival happening at Picken's Park. Betty giggled when he told her because she knew he wasn't the type to indulge in town events, but he’d wanted to do it for her. 

They had spent hours on rides, listening to the loud music that drowned out any conversations happening around them. The night was almost over, and Betty knew that as she walked hand in hand with Jughead along the sidewalks, her cotton candy nearly gone. People were dispersing from their groups and heading home while the rides were being shut off. Betty and Jughead rode on his motorcycle back to his trailer in Sunnyside, and they barely made it inside before their lips collided in a desperate kiss. 

Betty's breathing was heavy when she eventually pulled away, "J-Jughead." 

He looked at her worryingly, his hands holding her cheeks. "Are you okay?" 

Betty’s lips quivered, fear building up inside of her. She was afraid of what was coming next, but as her mind tried to tell her no, her heart didn’t listen. "I-I think I'm in love with you." 

Taken aback, Jughead removed his hands and searched her face for any signs of uncertainty, but there were none. "I love you, Betty." 

She gasped a sigh of relief and surprise, leaning in to kiss him again. They both knew how this made everything more difficult. What they had was never supposed to be more than some fun, but they'd unintentionally fallen in love with every part of each other that they'd been lucky enough to see.

"I want this, Jug. I want us." 

"You're supposed to go back to Phoenix after this weekend." 

"I know, but I don't want to go back. There's nothing for me there anymore, not like there is here." 

"What are you going to do?" 

"I don't...I don't know. 

"What if we just make the most of our time together? After Sunday, you'll be gone, and I don't want to look back and regret not enjoying every moment we had." 

She smiled and nodded, "Take me to bed." 

\--

Betty and Jughead had done just as they promised, soaking in every last second together, knowing that it would be over soon. He drove her back to her grandparents before they woke up Saturday morning after a late-night, exploring each other's bodies. It had felt different then, with their ‘I love yous’ out in the open. Betty had never quite felt something so intense. Of all the things he had made her experience before, that night had been everything at once. 

Jughead had picked Betty up after dinner, and they joined his friends for a final bonfire. They giggled as they snuck off again, finding their way back to his trailer and peeling their clothes off in a desperate need to feel each other once more. They couldn't get enough of each other. Maybe it was because August was gone, or because they had finally found their missing pieces within one another. 

Sunday had arrived, and they knew what was coming next. Betty's grandparents invited Jughead over for lunch before her mother arrived to bring her back to Phoenix. None of them had been as happy for this get together as they had been in the prior weeks. The conversation throughout their meal wasn't as lively as it usually was, and the entire time Betty seemed like she was holding back from saying whatever was on her mind. 

When they were finished, Betty's grandfather took the dishes to the sink, and then he and his wife went to sit out front to give Betty and Jughead some time alone together. They were doing the dishes together when Betty's phone lit up, her mother's name across the screen. 

She stepped away to answer the call, and Jughead continued doing the dishes until she came back, doing his best to ignore the voice in his head telling him not to let her go. He turned around when Betty put her phone down on the table. 

"When will they be here?"

Trying to hide her smile, Betty responded, "They're not coming." 

"What?" 

"I phoned my mom before church this morning, um...I asked her if I could move to Riverdale. Stay with my grandparents and finish high school here. She told me she'd phone me when she talked to my dad." Her face broke out in a wide grin, and she couldn't help it, "Well, she talked to him." 

"And you're not going?" 

"I'm not going." 

Jughead smiled as he dropped the dish towel and picked Betty up in a hug, spinning her around as he kissed her. "You're really staying?"

She giggled and nodded her head, her cheeks a deep shade of red. "I'm really staying." 

_ The end.  _

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to the end I'd love to know what you thought, but please be kind! 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @srainbuggie.


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